Sony Xperia 1 VII

The Sony Xperia 1 VII has a non-folding, non-rugged form factor measuring 162 x 74 x 8.2 mm with a total volume of 98.3016 cm³, and it weighs 197 g. Its IP68-rated waterproof protection means it carries a full waterproof classification, offering solid resistance against water ingress in everyday and demanding conditions.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII features a 6.5″ OLED/AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 px and a pixel density of 396 ppi, delivering a sharp and detailed image. It runs at a 120Hz refresh rate with a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and the Always-On Display function keeps key information visible at a glance. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and supports HDR10, though it does not support HDR10+ or Dolby Vision. There is no secondary screen, and Dolby Vision display output is absent.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, built on a 3 nm semiconductor process with an 8-thread CPU running at 2 x 4.32 GHz and 6 x 3.53 GHz using big.LITTLE and HMP architecture, alongside a TDP of 8.2W. It pairs 12GB of DDR5 RAM at 5300 MHz with 512GB of internal storage, a maximum memory capacity of 24GB, and support for up to 2TB of external memory across two memory channels delivering up to 85.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The Adreno 830 GPU clocks at 1100 MHz with 1536 shading units, supports up to 2 displays, and is compatible with DirectX 12, OpenGL 3.2, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 3. Cache configuration includes 192 KB L1, 12 MB L2, and 8 MB L3, while the platform supports 64-bit processing, multithreading, ECC memory, TrustZone security, and integrated LTE. Benchmark results include an AnTuTu score of 2,062,177, Geekbench 6 multi-core and single-core scores of 10,059 and 3,234 respectively, and a 3DMark Wild Life Extreme score of 6,276.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII uses a triple-lens rear camera system with sensors at 48, 12, and 48 MP, apertures of f/1.9, f/2.3, and f/2, and pixel sizes of 1.12, 1, and 1 µm respectively, covering a focal range of 16 mm to 170 mm with 7.1x optical zoom. The main camera relies on a CMOS sensor without back-side illumination, and autofocus is handled through phase-detection and touch AF, with no laser autofocus present. Video capture reaches up to 4K at 120 fps with continuous autofocus, HDR10 recording, and slow-motion support, though Dolby Vision recording is not available. Manual controls extend to exposure, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus, and the system also supports RAW capture, burst mode, in-camera panoramas, and timelapse, while 360° panorama and 3D recording are absent. A single LED flash is present, with no dual-tone or RGB flash options. The 12 MP front camera has an f/2 aperture and is positioned above the display rather than under it, has no dedicated flash, and is a single-lens setup with no secondary front-facing lens.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII runs Android 15, a free and open-source platform that supports multi-user profiles, split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, widgets, and app offloading. Privacy options are well-covered, including clipboard warnings, location controls, camera and microphone access management, and the ability to block app tracking, though cross-site tracking blocking and Mail Privacy Protection are not available. Customization extends to dynamic theming, theme customization, dark mode, and an extra dim mode, while notification permissions and customizable notifications give further control over the experience. Productivity-oriented features include a media picker, full-page screenshots, Live Text, sharing intents, offline voice recognition, voice commands, on-device machine learning, and the ability to play games while they are still downloading. A battery health check and phone tracking are also present. Wi-Fi password sharing, focus modes, Quick Start, and the ability to use the device as a PC are not supported, and the device does not receive direct OS updates from the vendor.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII houses a rechargeable 5000 mAh battery with a battery level indicator, and it supports fast wired charging at 30W as well as wireless charging at 15W. Reverse wireless charging is also available, allowing the device to charge other compatible accessories. The battery is non-removable, and no charger is included in the box.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII includes stereo speakers and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, catering to both wired and wireless listening. Bluetooth audio codec support is extensive, covering aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, and LDAC, enabling high-resolution wireless audio transmission. Two microphones are built in for voice capture, while a radio is not present.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII supports 5G cellular connectivity alongside Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and earlier Wi-Fi standards going back to Wi-Fi 4, with download speeds reaching up to 10,000 MBits/s and upload speeds of up to 3,500 MBits/s. It accommodates one physical SIM and one eSIM, and connects via USB Type-C with USB 3.2, while NFC and Bluetooth 6 round out the short-range wireless options. An external memory slot is present for expanded storage. On the sensor side, the device includes a fingerprint scanner, GPS with Galileo support, a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, and barometer, covering a solid range of navigation and motion sensing. Features not present include a heart rate monitor, infrared sensor, iris scanner, 3D facial recognition, ANT+ support, HDMI output, crash detection, emergency SOS via satellite, DLNA certification, motion and optical tracking, a built-in projector, and a stylus.

The Sony Xperia 1 VII includes a video light for illumination during video recording, while its display is flat rather than curved and uses neither sapphire glass nor an e-paper panel.